diff --git a/models/forgefed/actor.go b/models/forgefed/actor.go
index 704bd42da5..a34abc2075 100644
--- a/models/forgefed/actor.go
+++ b/models/forgefed/actor.go
@@ -218,9 +218,9 @@ func (s *ForgePerson) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
 
 func (s ForgePerson) Validate() []string {
 	var result []string
-	result = append(result, validation.ValidateNotEmpty(string(s.Type), "type")...)
+	result = append(result, validation.ValidateNotEmpty(string(s.Type), "Type")...)
 	result = append(result, validation.ValidateOneOf(string(s.Type), []any{string(ap.PersonType)}, "Type")...)
-	result = append(result, validation.ValidateNotEmpty(s.PreferredUsername.String(), "preferredUsername")...)
+	result = append(result, validation.ValidateNotEmpty(s.PreferredUsername.String(), "PreferredUsername")...)
 
 	return result
 }
diff --git a/models/forgefed/nodeinfo.go b/models/forgefed/nodeinfo.go
index 19e992cfbf..a1373c6829 100644
--- a/models/forgefed/nodeinfo.go
+++ b/models/forgefed/nodeinfo.go
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ func NewNodeInfo(body []byte) (NodeInfo, error) {
 // Validate collects error strings in a slice and returns this
 func (node NodeInfo) Validate() []string {
 	var result []string
-	result = append(result, validation.ValidateNotEmpty(string(node.SoftwareName), "source")...)
+	result = append(result, validation.ValidateNotEmpty(string(node.SoftwareName), "node.SoftwareName")...)
 	result = append(result, validation.ValidateOneOf(node.SoftwareName, KnownSourceTypes, "node.SoftwareName")...)
 
 	return result